A confirmed chocoholic, I always figured, why have a blondie, when you can have a brownie (especially my recipe for the best gluten-free brownies ever)? But these gluten-free, dairy-free brown sugar blondies tossed that theory out the window.

These blondies taste like chocolate chip cookies, but they are more moist and more cakey. Studded with dark chocolate chips, the blondies still deliver a strong chocolate dose, proving that maybe blondes do have more fun.

I made the blondies dairy-free by using coconut oil and applesauce, instead of a stick of butter. Be aware that the chocolate chips sink to the bottom forming a chocolatey crust; next time I will try mini chocolate chips to see if I have better luck keeping the chips afloat.

This month’s Kosher Connection challenge (see links to other blog posts below) was to make treats for mishloach manot baskets for Purim. On Purim, we have a tradition that’s the opposite of trick-or-treat: Instead of emphasizing getting food, we give friends and family gifts of food — usually a basket with at least two different kinds of foods. I thought the blondies would make a good Purim treat — dairy-free, nut-free and studded with a chocolate surprise. Also, check out my tasty, tender gluten-free, dairy-free hamantaschen recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 8-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper, covering the bottom and the sides of the pan.

Combine gluten-free flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and whisk together with a fork to combine.

Beat brown sugar with coconut oil, applesauce, egg and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer at medium speed. Decrease the speed and add flour mixture. Mix until combined, stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the top is firm to the touch, the blondies slightly pull away from the edge of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool to room temperature and then put pan in the refrigerator, so the blondies will be easier to cut. When chilled, lift out the blondies by the sides of the parchment paper. Place the parchment paper and the blondies on a cutting board and cut into 25 squares.

Yield: 25 squares

Click on frog icon below to see mishloach manot recipes on other Kosher Connection blogs:

17 responses to “Brown Sugar Blondies, Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free”

I just made these and I found that they got done in middle before they were done around edges which may be too much oil (I doubled the recipe and used date paste instead of applesauce, starch egg replacement too). But they smell great! Maybe not enough flour and I’ll have to add some next time. Thanks for recipe!

Janet, don’t replace your oven yet! Start by buying an oven thermometer and set your oven to 350 and then check the thermometer to see if it displays the same temp.

If you are not using eggs, then there’s really no harm in them being a bit underdone. They will be nicely gooey and chewy that way. (If you are using eggs, you will want to make sure they are appropriately cooked.) Sorry if you are having difficulty with the recipe, it could be because of the ingredient substitutions you made, or the size of your pan, or the temperature of your oven (or of my oven!), or your altitude.

I did do some more altering of your wonderful recipe after I doubled it:
(1) cut down oil to 1/4 cup coconut oil
(2) subbed 2 TBSP golden flaxseed meal with 4 tbsp. water then I nuked it ( will have to see after they cool if I should increase to 6 tbsp. water)
(3) increase Baking powder to 1 1/2 tsp plus add 1/4 tsp into egg stuff (I believe that I got this suggestion from comments in ‘baking without eggs from GlutenFreeGirl’)
(4) used a GF flour mix from GlutenFreeGirl 70% flour 30% starch no gums (Guar, Xanthan & Carrageenan are causing reactions so I am trying out her suggestions to just leave them out & working find so far but I have not attempted bread yet).
(5) 1 1/2 tsp vanilla powder (I don’t know the real conversion factor here)
and they smell & look very normally yummy – look very similar to the gluten full ones I used to bake.
I have to sub out a lot of stuff cause I just found out with blood tests I am allergic to gluten, dairy, and egg whites and yolks. I was baking with egg whites but not anymore. Baking GF, DF, and EF is challenging and this is wonderful where you are trying to help me out!. I did bake it around 33 minutes cause I’m now leery of any kind of shine on the toothpick test haha!

I forgot to add that I use date paste instead of applesauce due to a problem with fodmap. I know that date paste works well to sub out for around 50% up to 75% of fat or oil cause I use that in the Namaste brownies I made & took to work. Guys at work went & bought the bags of brownie mix just so I’d make them! Isn’t that too cool! Sorry for multiple posts – I couldn’t find way to alter what I had already posted.

I waited for about 1 hour to try 1 and they are a bit gooey which will probably be ok. But next time I may add in some oat flour or something. Maybe switch from flaxseed meal to using just plain Psyllium powder which I have seen used by other GF bakers and also used in bread recipes. Worth a try.

Janet,
Your substitutions are very creative and seem like great solutions to baking egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free. It’s great that you are experimenting to find substitutions and recipes that work for you. Good luck with it!
Eve

I made these blondies and they were wonderful. But, they did come out quite undone. I baked them about 5 minutes longer and still undone and didn’t want to burn the edges. I live in a high altitude and was wondering if that was the problem. If so, how much extra flour should I add to compensate for being in a high altitude. I also substituted Spectrum organic vegetable oil for the coconut oil and it was very good.

Holly,
Thanks for your comments. I made the blondies again, and I increased the time slightly. I originally had it at 22 to 25 minutes, and I’ve updated the recipe to the new time of 30 minutes. In my oven, the blondies were done at 25 minutes — the toothpick was clean, but the tops were a little squishy. At 30 minutes they were a little firmer without being dry, so I think that’s better.

I live in Chicago, which is as flat as can be, so I don’t know much about high-altitude cooking. I don’t think you’d want to add more flour, though. Start with increasing the temperature by 25 degrees. Then some websites say you can try slightly decreasing the baking powder or soda, fat, and/or sugar; and/or slightly increasing the liquid ingredients and flour. I’m not sure how you know which of those to do, though. Try baking it at 375 for 30 minutes at high altitude and see how that does.
-Eve

I didn’t have any dark chocolate chips, so I used semi-sweet. I think it would have been better with dark. Also, in my oven, it took about 35 minutes for the top to be firm and the toothpick to come out clean. I used butter for the fat. Nice molasses-y flavour, bit of an aftertaste, though. I blame the chips I used.

About Gluten-Free Nosh

Sharing recipes, tips and experiences forgluten-free families

My youngest daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease when she turned 2. In the past seven years, we’ve learned how to create gluten-free versions of our favorite foods and traditional Jewish foods and how to navigate through restaurants, school and birthday parties gluten-free.